


The Bucket List

by childoflightning



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Shazam! (2019), Shazam! | Captain Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Bonding, Bucket List, Canon Disabled Character, Comfort No Hurt, Feel-good, Friendship, Gen, No Incest, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sibling Bonding, for now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-01-25 19:55:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18581494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childoflightning/pseuds/childoflightning
Summary: Billy hadn't meant to go through Freddy's stuff. But well, he had. A bucket list was the last thing he expected to find.-Billy and Freddy decide to make a bucket list together, because what else do two teenage superheros do?





	1. The List

Billy hadn’t been trying to snoop. Really, he hadn’t. He was just looking for the pen he knew Freddy had stolen because Freddy was a dick like that. Instead he found a journal? But it wasn’t really a journal. In fact it was just a numbered list with occasional things highlighted or checked off.

“Uh, Billy?”

Billy quickly turned around, facing his roommate. Said roommate was standing in the doorway, leaning on his crutch. He raised his eyebrows at him.

“What are you doing?” Freddy asked, entering the room.

“Uh…” Billy stuttered, caught in the act.

Freddy just looked at him has he walked over to join his friend, sitting down at the unoccupied chair by the desk.

“Well?” he asked.

“I was looking for my pen,” Billy rushed to explain, “And I know you took it-”

“Did not!” Freddy protested, even though Billy knew he totally had.

“And so I was looking for it. And then I found- uh, I’m sorry I really didn’t mean to go through your stuff.”

Freddy made a ‘gimme’ motion with his hand and Billy passed it over, allowing his foster brother to take it.

“Huh, I had forgotten about this,” Freddy remarked as he looked at it, “It’s super old.”

“What is it?” Billy asked.

“A bucket list,” Freddy responded.

Billy snorted.

“A bucket list?” he asked.

Freddy nodded, cheeks turning slightly pink. Billy snatched the journal back.

“Dude!” Freddy protested, reaching out for it.

Billy just laughed and started to read it out loud.

“Number six, be a billionaire, number fourteen, have a life supply of chocolate, number sixteen, be president- you would be a horrible president-”

“Hey!”

“Number twenty four, meet a superhero, number twenty five, be a superhero- well at least you’ve done those two-.”

At that point Freddy stood back up and half tackled his friend. Billy fell backwards onto the desk, Freddy on top of him.

“Hey!” Billy protested. With the hand that wasn’t holding the journal he tried to push the slighter shorter boy away. The slight shove did little to deter Freddy, who instead kept reaching for the journal. The slight scuffle continued for a little while, Billy only gaining the upper hand when he actually climbed onto the desk. He looked triumphantly down at Freddy’s scowling face.

“Dude!” he complained once more.

Billy smirked once more before dropping the journal onto Freddy’s head. Freddy yelped at the contact and the book went skittering across the floor. Billy clamored down off the desk.

“I wrote that when I was like eight,” Freddy complained as he looked between the desk, the floor, and his leg. He shifted a bit, staring at the journal he still hasn't reached for.

“I got it,” Billy said before Freddy could move further. He reached down and grabbed the journal before handing it back to Freddy. Freddy sat back down on the chair while Billy himself opted to sit on the desk.

“So you had a bucket list?” Billy asked.

“Yes,” Freddy said, blushing a bright pink color, “Yeah I did. It was cool man.”

Billy snorted.

“No, c’mon,” Freddy protested, “It’s like, okay yeah, the stuff is lame I was a kid- but the point is that actually writing down the things you wanna do is supposed be like encouraging or whatever.”

Billy contemplated the statement.

“Okay,” he finally offered, “but yours needs some serious work dude. Let’s make a new one. Together.”

“Really?” Freddy said, looking up at Billy.

“Yeah, why not,” Billy answered with an easy grin.

Freddy smirked and cocked his head.

“Okay,” the shorter boy said, “Number one, murder Billy for snooping around my stuff!”

“I was looking for the pen you stole!” Billy argued.

“Mhmmm, sure you were,” Freddy said as he raised his eyebrows.

“I was!” Billy protested.


	2. Learn to Cook a Meal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Learn to Cook a Meal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first real chapter.

Truthfully, Billy forgot about the bucket list quickly. Freddy was the one to even remind him it was a thing.

“Hey, how about for the bucket list we make a meal for the family?” Freddy offered as he sat down next to him on the bus.

“I can’t cook,” was Billy’s immediate response.

Freddy snorted.

“Neither can I,” he said, “I just thought it would be nice, especially because Victor’s hours mean that Rosa is usually cooking for all eight of us.”

That comment definitely caught Billy’s attention. He hated showing affection, especially towards his foster parents. They were great really, he maybe even loved them, but he couldn’t let them know that. But cooking a meal, well that wasn’t a hug or saying he loved them, but it did show that he cared. In Billy’s mind that was fair game.

“Uh, dude, you still there,” Freddy called before tapping on the taller boys head. Billy shoved his hand away with a scowl.

“That’s actually a pretty good idea,” he admitted, “Let’s try it.”

* * *

**Attempt #1**

“I found a recipe we could use,” Billy finally announced from his place on the top bunk.

The two boys had only been searching the internet for maybe fifteen minutes, but it felt like forever.

“What is it?” Freddy asked, eyes lighting up as he looked up towards Billy.

Billy waved him up.

“Billy, I’m not attempting to climb up there,” Freddy snorted, gesturing towards his leg in reminder.

“Right, sorry,” Billy said as he hopped off, clumsily catching his balance on the floor. He landed with a heavy thud. Mary banged on their shared wall in response, her version of telling them to shut up. The two boys snickered.

“God, it'll be nice when she goes off to college,” Freddy snarked, “With you here too, the house is way too crowded.”

Billy’s smiled dropped and his shoulders came forward. Freddy looked up at the movement.

“No, dude, I didn’t mean it like that,” Freddy promised as he waved his hands frantically, “I’m glad you're here. The house is just noisy a lot. I’ll need to invest in some headphones or something. Billy, seriously, you’re not an issue, I was joking.”

“Right,” Billy said verbally to remind himself, “I’m not a problem.”

“You're not,” Freddy confirmed with a smile, “Now let’s see that recipe.”

Billy joined his friend on his bed and showed him his phone.

“Hmm, seems easy, plus I think it might even be vegan, so Darla shouldn’t complain. Dude this looks good! Let’s try it!” Freddy said in excitement.

“Yeah?” Billy asked.

Freddy nodded vigorously. The two then lept up in tandem, Freddy quickly grabbing his crutch, before the two of them raced downstairs to the kitchen.

The instantly froze when they entered the cluttered room.

“So uh, how do we do this?” Billy asked.

Freddy shrugged and limped over to a cupboard. He opened it and lifted out a large pot with his free hand.

“I think we just take this and fill it with water and boil it with the spaghetti,” he offered.

Billy shrugged but nodded, “Okay.”

The two filled the pot with water and placed it in on the stove before setting it to high.

“How long is this supposed to take?” Billy asked.

“I dunno,” Freddy said with a shrug, “I think we just wait.”

Half an hour later and nothing happened.

“I don’t think this is working,” Billy commented.

“You think,” Freddy asked as he raised his eyebrows.

The two teens stared at the pot.

“Maybe we should have put less water?” Freddy offered.

They both glanced up at the almost full pot.

Billy sighed and nodded reaching to grab the pot when his hands touched the handles he jerked back with a yelp. This of course led to hot, but not boiling, water being spilled all over the entire kitchen floor.

“Shit,” Billy swore.

“Dude, you okay?” Freddie asked, concern apparent in his voice.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Billy promised, “Let’s just clean this up and try it again."

* * *

 

**Attempt #2**

They filled the bowl with less water the next time, and sure enough, the water boiled.

“Yes!” Freddy cheered triumphantly when the bubbles started to break the surface. The two boys high-fived at the success.

“I think we just put the pasta in now?” Billy suggested.

Freddy shrugged in dumped the whole box in.

“Dude, that’s a ton of food,” Billy protested.

“Uh, there’s eight of us Billy, I think it’ll be fine,” the shorter of the two argued.

The friends then resumed staring at the pot. It was starting to froth.

“Hey Freddy,” Billy whispered, “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Uh huh,” Freddy replied, eyes wide.

The pot continued to froth and bubble while the two of them stared at it, clueless as to what to do. Much too quickly, the froth starting to spill over the edge. The two of them screamed and hustled to get away from the boiling foam.

* * *

**Attempt #3**

“Hey Billy, maybe we should just follow the directions this time,” Freddy offered, as they stood once again in the kitchen.

Billy sighed and dropped the pot he was filling back up with water.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he agreed, “We’re kind of shit at this.”

Freddy just snorted in response. No duh they were shit at this. They had failed to make basic pasta two times. And they failed in the earliest steps of just getting the stupid water right, not even having reached the harder steps of actually cooking the food. pathetic . Billy typed the name of the dish into his phone and quickly clicked on an article that appeared to be legit and started to read quietly.

“So?” Freddy asked a minute later, impatient as always.

“Dude, chill, I’m reading it right now,” Billy protested.

“Well you’re not reading it fast enough,” Freddy complained, “Give me the phone.”

“Get your own phone,” Billy scoffed, waving away Freddy’s hand that was reached out towards him.

“It’s all the way upstairs,” Freddy whined, “Just give me yours.”

“If you would just shut up, I could read the stupid thing and then we could just get this done with,” Billy grumbled. But Freddy only limped quickly to Billy’s side and reached again for the phone. The two wrestled for a bit with the phone, bickering about who got to read the instructions. The bickering and wrestling quickly got more and more violent until the two crashed into the counter, knocking the box of pasta onto the floor. With a rattle it spilled out across the entire kitchen floor.

“Shit,” the boys said in tandem.

* * *

**Attempt #4**

“Hey Mary, you’re the oldest, any chance you know how to cook?” Billy asked as he swung her door open.

“What he means,” Freddy said with a huff, joining Billy in the doorway, “Is that we want to make Rosa and Victor a meal because they’re always cooking for us. But we don’t know how. Will you help us?”

The young women just stared at them.

“You think I know how to cook?” she asked with a raised brow. She snorted and turned back to her textbook.

“Uh, yes?” Freddy tried hopefully.

She laughed and shook her head before waving the two of the out.

“Good luck,” she called as they left.

* * *

**Attempt #5**

“Hey Victor?” Freddy called down the stairs, “Uh, Billy and I need your, help, with uh, our, laundry?”

“Dude, you could not be any worse at lying,” Billy hissed from his spot in the doorway. Freddy just scowled and waited for a response.

“Sure,” Victor called up, “Just a minute boys.”

The two shared victorious grins and crashed back into their room.

“We should have started by just asking him,” Freddy said with a scoff as he took his seat at their shared desk. Billy dropped the comic book he had been skimming.

“I mean, this whole bucket list was your idea, so I would say it’s your fault,” Billy pointed out.

Freddy wiped his head to look back at him.

“Dude!” he exclaimed, “You’re the one who went snooping in my stuff, remember?”

The two continued there bickering, only pausing when the sound of someone clearing their throat came from the doorway. The two turned quickly to face the intruder.

Victor stood in the door, looking more than slightly confused.

“Boys?” he asked in a questioning tone.

“Victor!” Freddy shouted, demeanor changing completely, “We need your help.”

“With?”

“We want to learn how to cook a meal for Rosa and the family, but Freddy keeps messing it up,” Billy explained quickly.

“Hey!” Freddy protested quickly, “I’m not the one messing up, you just didn’t even bother looking up the directions.”

“Yeah, but you knocked over the pasta.”

“Because you were being slow.”

“Boys.”

“I was or being slow, you’re just impatient!”

“I’m the impatient one? He other day you couldn’t wait five minutes for the bathroom!”

“You were taking forever!”

“Boys!” a commanding voice suddenly cut in.

The two fell silent.

“Are you done?” Victor asked the two of them.

The two stayed silent.

“Right,” Victor said with a sigh, dropping his head into his hand, “I’d be more than willing to help you. But this bickering is ridiculous.”

The boys hung their heads.

“Sorry,” Freddy muttered, “I was just teasing but it got kind of far. I was impatient,” he admitted.

Billy snorted, “It’s fine. I was being a dick too. Let’s just not do it again? Dude your like my only friend.”

“Lame,” Freddy said as he cracked a smile.

“Hey,” Billy protested, but he was also grinning.

“Right,” Victor said with a nod, “Now let’s go make some… uh, what did you guys want to make again?”

The two boys shared a glance.

‘What was it called again?’ Freddy mouthed to Billy. Billy just shrugged. Victor sighed for the billionth time.

* * *

When Rosa came home from work the next day, the kitchen ws filled with the small of pasta and fresh tomato sauce. She entered the kitchen, looking in Billy’s opinion, utterly exhausted. She also hadn’t given any indication of seeing the two boys.

“Rosa?” Freddy spoke up.

Their foster mom’s head shot up to look at the duo.

“Oh, hey boys, uh, why does it smell like pasta?” she asked.

Freddy and Billy shared a glance and smiled.

“We made you dinner,” Billy explained, “Because you’re always working so hard for us.”

“Yeah,” Freddy pitched in, “We wanted to do something for you.”

Rosa looked up at the two smiling boys and her face also broke out in a grin.

“Oh, boys,” she said softly, “That's so sweet of you.”

“Yeah! And it only took five attempts and two instances of almost burning the kitchen down!”

“Wait what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought, and feel free to leave suggestions on ideas for our favorite boys to add to their bucket list!   
> ~childoflightning


	3. Piercings and Hair and Dye Oh My

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2a. Dye Your Hair an Unnatural Color  
> 2b. Pierce an Ear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Piercing of an ear

“I have an idea for the bucket list,” Billy said as he swung into the room.

Freddy turned to face him and waved a hand at him, gesturing for him to continue.

“Okay, hear me out first,” Billy pleaded.

“Uh, why?” Freddy asked, posturing stiffening in the process. “Please tell me this isn’t going to be something stupid.”

“Dyeing our hair,” Billy forced out quickly.

“What? No way! I am not doing that!” Freddy protested, “How did you even get that idea.”

Billy scuffed his foot on the ground and looked around their shared room. Wow it was dirty. They needed to clean it. Eh, maybe some other time.

“Okay, so I actually do have a reason,” Billy started, “And honestly, dyeing our hair was the better of multiple options.”

Freddy just stared.

“Okay, so well I thought, you know how when we change into out other forms like we become adults? And our bodies actually change? And like, you don’t need your crutch anymore?” Billy asked.

Freddy shifted slightly in his chair but slowly nodded.

“So,” Billy continued, “I wondered how far that all extended. Like if we did something permanent to our bodies, would it show up on our other bodies. And the only ways I could think of testing this is either, like, permanently injuring each other, getting a tattoo, getting a piercing, or dyeing our hair.”

Freddy just stared at him.

“Well,” the shorter boy eventually said, “It so fun being disabled and everything, but I definitely think we can rule out the physically maiming each other option. And yeah, Rosa and Victor would not be happy with us if we got tattoos. Especially if they stayed. But really, dyeing our hair?” Freddy protested.

The two just looked at each other, neither backing down.

“Well, Billy said at last, “I’m getting my hair dyed. If you really don’t want to I guess you’ll just have to get a piercing.”

“Dude, no way,” Freddy yelped.

Billy started.

“Fine,” Freddy said with a sigh, “I guess a piercing is better that my hair being dyed.”

“Is it really?” Billy questioned.

-

It took them a little while to get everything together, but eventually they were ready to go. Billy had decided to dye his hair with red streaks in homage to his alter ego. Plus, Freddy had told him the green would make him look like a frog. And Billy did not want to look like a frog. Freddy, on the other hand, stuck with his decision to get a piercing. His only requirement: Billy had to be the one to do it. Billy balked at the idea, but Freddy refused to cave. Freddy argued that he would be the one helping Billy dye his hair, so Billy should be the one to disfigure Freddy’s ear. Billy’s face had gone white, but after much begging on Freddy’s part he had agreed. Plus, Freddy had found an awesome pair of Wonder Woman earrings. That evening, with questionable parental permission, they set up in the bathroom.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Freddy asked, cheap gloves already placed on his hands.

“Yes,” Billy said empathetically, “I’ve told you a million times. Plus, I’m not even bleaching it, just tinting it.”

Freddy shrugged and poured some of the group on his hands. From his seated position on the bathroom counter, he beckoned Billy forward. Billy turned around and took a seat on the toilet lid, allowing his hair to be In Freddy’s reach.

“Here goes nothing,” Freddy muttered, before sticking his hands into Freddy’s hair.

Billy’s first thoughts- it was cold and slimy. He shivered at the texture.

“Hey, don’t move,” Freddy protested, “I’m going to get this everywhere if you do. And I don’t think our parents would be happy with a red stained counter. We don’t need our bathroom to look like a murder scene.

“I’m trying,” Billy complained, “It’s just cold. And it feels weird.”

“Your the one who wanted to do this.”

Billy sighed but stilled and allowed Freddy to continue.

“How’s it looking,” he asked after a bit.

“Uh, red?” Freddy responded, “I mean, it’s not super bright because we didn’t bleach it, but you definitely have red streaks bro. Give me another minute and I’ll be done.”

Freddy fiddled with his hair for a minute longer before finally releasing it.

“Done!” he said cheerfully.

Billy quickly turned to face the mirror as Freddy went about storing the excess dye and throwing away the soiled gloves.

“Woah,” Billy said when he saw himself, “Dude, my hair’s red!”

“No shit,” Freddy snarked, as he hobbled back to the other boy after throwing his gloves away, “It’s almost like you dyed your hair red or something.”

“I like it,” Billy decided with a grin.

“Good,” Freddy said with a snort, “because doing that was way more effort than expected. Like seriously, who know it would take that long?”

“Uh, everyone,” Billy protested, shooting his friend a sly grin.

“Oh, shut up,” Freddy said back good naturally.

The two sat in silence, studying Billy’s hair for another minute.

It was Billy who broke the silence.

“Okay,” Billy said cheerfully, “Your turn!”

Freddy immediately frowned.

Billy caught the expression and hesitated.

“If you really don’t want to,” Billy started, “You don’t have too.”

Freddy just frowned more and shook his head.

“Nah, come on, it’s on the bucket list. I have to do it now. Plus, come on, Wonder Woman earrings Billy! Wonder Woman!”

“Dude, what if I get to meet Wonder Woman?”

“Holy shit, I would die,” Freddy swore.

The two burst out into giggles.

“Okay, now time to pierce an ear,” Billy said, much to cheerful for what he was about to do. Freddy gulped but nodded and the switched to sit on the toilet. Billy stood in front of him.

First, he carefully cleaned Freddy’s ear, the last thing the two wanted was for Freddy to die from some dramatic infection. Then, Billy took out a pen and made a small mark. Next, he grabbed the needle, and also cleaned it. After, he held the soap bar up to the back of Freddy’s ear. And then-

“Ready?” Billy asked, reaching to grasp Freddy’s hand.

The other boy nodded shakily.

“Okay, here we go,” Billy said as he raised his hand, “One, Two-”

“Shit!” Freddy yelped as the needle pierced his ear.

Billy ignored his cry and took his hand off the needle, quickly turning to grab the earring. He then turned back, and as quick as possibly, placed the earring in and carefully placed the backing on. He then leaned back with a successful sigh, his hands trembling.

The two boys just stared at each other. Freddy’s eyes had the hints of tears, but he didn’t seem to be getting any worse. And then all at once, the curly-hair boy leapt to stand up. In the hurry, he of course didn’t grab his crutch, causing Billy to quickly stand and help balance him before he could crash to the floor. The two shook slightly, bodies thrumming with nerves, and stared into the mirror. Hair with red highlights and a newly pierced ear stared back at them.

“Holy shit,” Freddy breathed out. He reached up to fiddle with the piercing, but before he could get too close, Billy batted the hand away.

“You can’t touch it!” he hissed, “It could get infected.”

“Right,” Freddy said, and dropped his hand.

They continued to stare in the mirror.

“Let’s clean up and then go uh, change into our, uh other forms?” Freddy suggested with a smirk.

Billy’s grin widened and he nodded vigorously. The two boys had never cleaned up a mess as faster than ever before.

-

“On three?” Billy asked, turning to face Freddy. The other boy nodded.

“One, Two, Three, SHAZAM!” they both cried.

Lightning hit both of their bodies as their alter egos emerged. In just a few seconds they were both standing as full grown superheroes. They immediately turned to inspect one another.

“Dude! Your hair isn’t red anymore!” Freddy exclaimed, floating closer to inspect Billy’s hair.

“Really?” he asked in astonishment, turning as if he would be able to get a better view.

“Really,” Freddy confirmed with a laugh.

“Well you still have your piercing,” Billy observed.

“Huh,” Freddy commented, “So it erases some things, but not others, weird. Oh! Billy! I could get a lightning earring to match our costumes!”

“Dude that would be so awesome!” Billy exclaimed, turning to look at his friend.

The two grinned widely at one another.

“I have to admit, this wasn’t a bad idea,” Freddy conceded.

“Celebratory fist bump?”

“Celebratory fist bump,” Freddy agreed.

And was it totally awesome fist bumping your superhero best friend while you were also a superhero? Yes, yes, it totally was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this addition. Let me know what you thought! Please be polite.  
> ~childoflightning


	4. Bubbles, Bowls, and Blowing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3\. Blow Glass

“You know, we should probably actually write down our bucket list,” Billy commented the next time Freddy brought it up.

“Yeah, that's probably a good idea,” Freddy agreed, “We can do that later. But first, glass blowing, yay or nay?”

Bully shifted on his feet.

“Isn't that like, dangerous, and hard to find, and expensive, how would we even do it?” Billy questioned rapidly.

Freddy just smirked and pulled at a flier.

“There's an art fair this weekend,” he explained, “and you can sign up to learn to blow glass. And it's like fifteen bucks, not too bad for a bomb experience. Please dude, this is nowhere near as dangerous as going out as a superhero ever other night. I think we'll be fine.”

Billy took the flier and scanned it over, reviewing all the information. It not only looked legit, but actually seemed pretty cool. I mean, they might as well try it, right?

“I’m in,” Billy decided.

“Awesome!” Freddy said with a grin as he snagged the flier back.

Now they just had to wake for the weekend. And actually write down their bucket list. Plus Billy had a history project due next week. Shit. He should probably work on that.

The weekend came sooner than expected, both boys waking up surprisingly early for a Saturday. It was still nine, but for Billy and Freddy that was equivalent to waking up at the crack of dawn.

When they strolled into the kitchen, Pedro, Mary, and Rosa were the only ones up. All of their eyes widened when they saw the two boys.

“What are you two boys doing up?” Rosa asked them.

“We had to be up early so we don’t miss our blowing glass thing,” Freddy replied as he went to grab some bread for toast.

If possible the three observers eyes grew even wider.

“You’re what?” Rosa asked.

“Blowing glass,” Freddy said as he dropped the bread in the toaster.

“Uh, Freddy, how do you even find out how to do that?” Mary questioned. She was sitting at the table, a textbook opened next to her breakfast.

“That's what I said!” Billy exclaimed in agreement.

“It wasn’t that hard,” Freddy replied with a shrug as he grabbed his toast and proceed to stumble towards the fridge.

Billy shrugged in agreement.

“Yeah, we’re just going to an art festival,” Billy said in explanation.

“Ich ih I were uh seh erlay,” Freddy mumbled arpun a mouthful of toast. He now carried a jam jar in his free hand and moved towards the table.

“Freddy, I have no idea what you just said,” Rosa told her foster son with a sigh.

The boy sat, dropping the jar on the table and placing the piece of toast that was previously in is mouth next to it. Billy moved to make his own toast.

“I said ‘which is why were up so early,’” Freddy repeated.

Pedro, Mary, and Rosa just stared at them. Eventually Rosa just shrugged and told them to have a good time. Ten minutes later the two boys were out of the house and headed towards the bus station.

Freddy’s gait, as always, was slow, so they had plenty of time to discuss their activities for the day.

“So are we just gonna blow glass?” Billy asked, “Or is there other things to do there.

Freddy shrugged.

“I don’t really know,” he admitted, “I just know that we’re blowing glass and that it's an art fair. Oh, and Rosa gave us a bit of spending money, which is awesome. I mean, I guess we can hang around I hadn’t really thought of it.”

“Okay,” Billy said with a shrug, “To the random art fair it is.”

* * *

“I’m starting to regret this decision lightly,” Billy said as they peered into the glass room.

Inside, numerous people were heating up glass and twisting it into shapes. The melted figures glowed brightly with heat, and even outside the room, Billy could feel the heat coming off in waves.

“Uh, it’ll be fine,” Freddy said with a gulp, “totally.”

Neither opened the door that was just in front of them. They shared a glanced. Freddy just sighed and stepped forward.

“We can do this,” Freddy promised. Billy just nodded shakily. He was totally not afraid of the giant flaming pit. Definitely not.

They showed the papers they filled out at the door and were allowed in. They were quickly directed to an out of the way corner and told to wait. The two boys shrugged but did as told.

A minute later an adult female wearing a heavy apron joined them.

“Hello, are you Billy Batson and Freddy Freeman?” she asked as she read from a paper on the clipboard in her hand.

“Yeah,” Billy and Freddy told her.

She gave a nod and then a “follow me.” The two did as instructed and ended up to the side of the room standing across from a large fire oven and next to table with glass.

“So, we're going to just do a simple project today because I'm going to assume this is your first time blowing glass,” the woman said.

The boys nodded.

“Right,” she replied, “so we’re just going to make bowls. Follow me to the glass,” she instructed, leading them closer to the table with crushed glass.

“Choose two,” she instructed as she gestured to the colors.

Freddy, unsurprisingly chose red and blue, in respect for his obsession with Superman. (It's not an obsession Billy, it's respect- yeah sure whatever). Billy himself chose red and yellow. Come on, they were his own superhero colors, he pretty much had to.

After they had selected their colors, the instructor poured out four clumps, one of each, onto the table before leading them away once again. They were then given giant gloves.

“What are these for?” Billy asked.

The woman shot him a look.

“Idiot,” Freddy hissed, “It’s so we don’t die from the burning hot glass.”

“Is it really that hot?”

Just then the woman gave him the end of one stick and he held it in his hands. He could instantly feel the heat on it, even though the metal was wrapped in thick material and he had on gloves.

“Don’t move it yet,” she instructed, before moving onto Freddy.

Billy looked at the stick and followed it to the end to find a ball of glass stuck on the tip of it.

“Oh shit,” he swore when he saw the glowing material. Freddy laughed to his side.

Then the woman was instructed them how to put the long sticks into the furnace and turn them correctly, warning them not to move closer.

“Don’t worry,” Freddy said with a laugh, “I’m not planning on getting burned today.”

She didn’t seem to find the comment amusing.

Two seconds later and they were pulling the rods out. The rods were then instantly carried to the table, the woman helping Freddy when she realized he needed to have one hand on his crutch. She talked quickly and firmly as she guided them through the process of dumping their glowing orbs on their colors, then setting the poles down, twisting them, and using tweezers to stretch the glass at the same time. Billy didn’t know if he was sweating from the heat, the fear of being burnt, or the speed of the instructions. Less than two minutes later the woman had taken both of their rods, ducked them in a large vat of water, taken them out, and chopped the glass off, leaving two lopsided bowls.

“There you go,” she told them, “Two bowls. But don’t touch them, they’re still very hot.”

Billy and Freddy shared a look. They could feel the heat literally radiating off from their work. Hey we're definitely not planning on moving any closer. Actually, both of the boys took a step back.

They studied the bowls for a moment. The entire activity couldn’t have been more than ten minutes, but their stood their final products.

“Okay, that's actually really cool,” Freddy pointed out.

Billy nodded slowly next to him.

They continued to stare at the shiny glass figures.

Eventually the were snapped out of it by the woman moving the bowls to a cupboard and giving them a receipt to pick them up in a week. They were then ushered out.

Now on the other side of the glass blowing building, they slowly meandered into the fair.

A minute later Billy spoke.

“Well, that went a lot faster than I thought it was going to,” he remarked.

Freddy just nodded in agreement.

“But hey, another thing down on the bucket list,” Billy commented.

“Damn right,” Freddy agreed, and the two high fived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best chapter, but I didn't want to leave this hanging without an update for any longer. Working on some better chapters in the future. Thanks for reading! Please be polite!  
> ~childoflightning

**Author's Note:**

> This fic idea has been niggling at my head, so I thought, why not write it. I do plan to continue this an update it, but compared to other works of mine, it will be slower. This is more for simple fun when I hit writer's block with other fics. In any case, enjoy. And feel free to recommend ideas for the list.  
> ~childoflightning


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